slufer with peas

[mukkerda]

Does anyone put sulfer down with the peas when they seed? If so how much is enough and how much is too much. I've heard it may cause low seedling vigour if too much is put down with the seed. Thanks.

[olson]

The trend by farmers growing field pea has been not to put any fertilizer with the them at all.

Having said that, you should be aware that a 50 bushel/acre field pea crop will take out of the soil on yearly basis - 45 lbs/acre of phosphorous, 140 lbs/acre of potassium, and 13 lbs/acre sulphur. for this reason, many farmers are still putting maintenance amounts of a blend of phosphate, potassium and sulphur.

In regards to sulphur, field pea has a reasonably high sulphur requirement. Soils that are frequently deficient in sulphur are the Black and Grey Wooded soils and occasionally the Brown soil zone. Your soil test will determine how much you need to put on. 5-25 lbs/acre of actual sulphur may be required depending on how low the soil test is. If you have greater than 20 lbs/acre then no sulphur is needed.

As for putting too much sulphur with the seed and hurting germination, I have not run across it. It might be possible if you had a extremely dry soil and low seedbed utilization (narrow opener where the fertilizer (high rate) and seed are together). Maybe someone else has run across it?